As a Child
I was born in Balham, south London, and grew up not far from there in Penge, a mythical place some people think doesn’t exist (but it does!). My childhood had its ups and downs – my mum and dad got divorced when I was 7 (very unusual at that time!) and there were a lot of rows. I seem to remember spending a lot of time on my own – I have a sister, but she’s six years older than me – and I compensated by doing a lot of reading. I discovered the library up the road very early on and loved the feeling of being completely lost in a book. I used to buy books with any money I had too, and remember being really excited by great storytellers like Henry Treece, Rosemary Sutcliff and JRR Tolkien. I particularly liked stories about people in the past going on great adventures – stories about Vikings and other warriors. I liked school too, and was lucky enough to have several teachers who introduced me to some great books (thanks, Mr Raeburn!)
As An Adult
I did well at school and went to Cambridge University where I met my wife. We got married and started a family pretty soon, which led me to the world of children’s books... I had decided I wanted to be a writer when I was a teenager, and got a job in journalism, ending up eventually working for a magazine called Parents, where I wrote reviews of children’s books. It was the early 1980s, and I was bringing home fabulous picture books by the Ahlberg's, Shirley Hughes, Tony Brown, Helen Oxenbury for my kids (we had three). By 1982 I was writing my own stories, and I published my first book in 1984. In 1986 I wrote Dilly the Dinosaur which was very successful, and in 1987 I gave up my job to become a full time writer.
Oddly enough I came to Walker Books in the early 1980s, and met the great Sebastian Walker, but nothing came of it at the time, although I always admired the wonderful books Walker published and thought they were The Publisher That Got Away. It’s taken me a long time to write a book that’s published by Walker, but I’m really pleased it’s happened at last. It’s also good that Viking Boy is the kind of book I would have loved to read when I was 11!
As an Artist
I’ve written a lot of books- poetry, picture books for the young, books for beginner readers. I’ve written scripts and plays and articles and reviews and all sorts of other things (to-do lists and shopping lists, mostly!). I can’t imagine not writing now. I always do it the same way – I spend a lot of time thinking about what I’m going to write, and I make lots of notes in hardback notebooks. Then I stare at a computer screen for even longer, convinced that I’m a terrible writer, that nothing is going to happen, that I’ll never write again. Then suddenly there’s a voice in my head giving me the first line of the story and I’m off. It’s always hard work – there are lots of stops and starts – but once I get that first line I know it’s going to be OK. And I always try to write the kind of story I like to read – one that grips you from the beginning and won’t let you go... a story full of twists and turns and adventure and action and characters you’ll always remember.
I’ve edited a lot of books too, and collecting stories by other people for an anthology is something I’ve always enjoyed doing. I’m a big fan of lots of writers and it’s been great getting to know some of them through my anthologies.
Things You Didn't Know About Tony Bradman
- When I was young – say between the ages of three and about seven – I spent a lot of time trying to run away from home. Maybe I was trying to tell my parents something...
- When I was 18 I ran through the plate glass window of a laundrette and survived. As I lay bleeding on the floor surrounded by broken glass the manager came out of the back room and said ‘We’re closed.’ Well, you’re not any more, I thought...
- When I was researching Viking Boy I went to a couple of Viking ship museums, one in Oslo and one in Copenhagen. I even went for a ride in a reconstructed Viking boat and dressed up as a Viking too... I also tried to get my wife to buy me a Viking sword for my birthday, but she didn’t think it was a very good idea.
- One of my hobbies is trying to learn other languages. On a shelf beside my desk I can see a lot of teach yourself books... Classical Greek, Latin, Old English, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Icelandic...
- When I’m doing my early notes for a story I have to use a black ink rollerball and write in a hardback notebook. They’re usually black these days too...
- My favourite colour is a kind of bluey-grey-green (the colour of my wife’s eyes). My favourite meal is risotto. My favourite song is Willin’ by a 1970s group called Little Feat. My least favourite thing is trying to think of favourite things for lists like this (although strangely enough I do have a favourite number – three)...
- I do most of the cooking in our house and go to the supermarket at least five times a week.
- My all-time favourite children’s book is Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff, and I interviewed her for a magazine in 1981. She actually phoned me at home to arrange when I should come and see her, and I was so impressed I could barely speak...
- I love going to the British Museum in London whenever I can, and can often be seen looking at the Sutton Hoo display or in the Greek and Roman rooms...
- I’m a super-hero and I go round saving the world from evil aliens (I made that one up)